Black Mage
by GemKnight
Summary: Ben Mathis, a fifth year slytherin student, is in the midst of many life-altering choices, about both dark magics and love. Afterall, studying the past is all well and good, but a time comes where you have to decide what you're really going to do.
1. 001 Distractions

Ben Mathis was a fifth year Hogwarts Slytherin, hair dyed black with one metallic silver streak, most of his hair held in place by a black and silver headband in a camouflage-styled pattern. Right now his was in school robes and heading for the library. In some ways he hated the library, but he'd conned another note out of Professor Slughorn to come into the restricted section.

When he came in there was another student in the section too, but he ignored her and reached for the book he was after. It was the companion piece to a book in his family's library; unfortunately both were one of a kind. The book in the school was the less dangerous of the two- unless you had access to its companion piece. He flicked the right spot to keep the book from screaming when he opened it. He sat down at one of the tables and pulled out a fresh notebook out of a new batch he'd just gotten Owl'd to him today.

In the restricted section, Elaine Kainis took a little longer to find the book she was after. It was the only book ever written with even a fraction of the truth she was after in it. She sat down at one of the other tables. But she looked up and noticed Ben- or rather- his pencil, a muggle pencil that he was using to sketch something into his- muggle notebook…

Ben sat up straight as he felt eyes on him from somewhere, but when he looked around no one was looking at him…

Elaine had looked back down into the book she was reading. Taking her own notes with a quill and parchment. While Ben looked around again this time he noticed the book she was reading- he'd been reading it last week, it depicted several mass murderers, their motives and modis operandi. The book he was reading described devastating spells. The companion piece at home describes what the spells do in greater detail, even between them it wasn't quite enough to perform them- but between them it was usually enough to track down more information.

Elaine got up to go asked the librarian, Ben found himself insatiably curious- but this was a bad time- he was so close…

"How can I help you Ms. Kainis?"

'_Kainis?_' Ben remembered now- the Kainis girl- she was in Ravenclaw, he about fainted when he heard back in first year. Da'arric and Mathers Kainis were practically idols for him; his family had even tracked down stolen memories- the days of the murders- weeks of drawn out torture and darkest magics. This girl, directly related- was a Ravenclaw-… And a beater for their Quidditch team, vicious little thing, ever since she joined the team, Ravenclaw had been a threat for the cup- and even won one year. But then- he'd been sick a good part of that year-…

He missed a good part of what Elaine asked, except that she seemed to be gathering all the official information on her grandfather and father, looking to rectify it, clarify all the misinformation. Ben smirked, he'd seen the memories, been inside them- the official documents had inaccuracies yes, but not drastic ones… Put simply the Kainis' duo made Black's story look tame- never mind that he knew Black's story was a fabrication, even before the Potter child killed Voldermort…

Only three years and the wizarding world was still afraid Voldermort would return again. Meanwhile he'd been gathering every ounce of information he could on the matter… The only people who knew more- of them only Harry himself was still alive- and maybe his friends if he told them… He'd tricked Slughorn into slipping about Voldermort's horcruxes, learned from several sources the specifics of the battle he was forced to evacuate before.

In fact the only people he hadn't spoke to yet- were the ones most likely to have the answers he was still missing. The now Headmistress McGonagall, refused to talk of the matter to anyone, the now Mrs. Potter, formerly Ginny Weasly, had graduated and also refused to talk to him…

This could actually warrant a worthy distraction from his current projects… Well he'd found the notes he needed for the final stage, and quickly wrote down the page number- but Elaine was leaving the library as he quickly put back the book and scooped up his stuff to follow her.

She was clearly different, almost the same height as him, though he was a little short. She had black hair cut off at about her ears, her eyes were green and her face showed traces of oriental decent. Ben came out of the library shortly behind her. It took less than twenty feet before she stopped and turned around.

"What do you want?"

"I could ask the same," Ben said smartly.

Elaine glared at him, "Why are you following me?"

"I'm possessed to do so by my curiosity, Kainis, you're related right, to _them_?"

"Father and Grandfather, why?"

"They do nice work."

"It's not what you think."

"It was an experiment," he smiled, that fact wasn't in any book.

She frowned, "Yeah, it wasn't supposed to be a massacre."

"Oh but they _knew_ it could be…"

"No," she said firmly. But Ben only smiled.

"What do you want?"

"You told the Librarian you're writing a book- I happen to be working on one too- different subject matter- I have research skills that could help."

"I have all the information I need," she said crossing her arms.

"There's always more information to be had."

She growled and turned away from him and started walking away.

He let her walk off without saying anything else, once she was out of sight he spoke to himself, "Well, keeper guarded that one well, but the snitch is no where in sight so this game is far from over," he chuckled and turned back to the library.

AN:

Short chappie to begin with… but I don't want to do too much at once..

This fic was originally an RP I did over IM… but I'm doing this my own way- and the RP ended shortly after a real plot actually formed… Le Sigh and such…


	2. 002 Secrets

Ben was in the great hall eating dinner when Elaine came in with a group of Ravenclaws, her Quidditch teammates. In the meantime his own teammates came up beside him…

"You missed practice," they accused as they all sat down.

"I was busy. Don't worry, I've seen the competition," he nudged his head towards the Ravenclaw team at the other table. They all followed his glance, specifically toward Elaine…

"Girl after me own heart," the other beater smirked.

"She's tougher than you," Ben teased.

"My point exactly…" he said almost dreamily.

"She'll gut you and leave you bleeding if you touch her, I watched Ferral try durring his last year, and she was a first year then, she laid him flat out of his block before he even thought to reach for his wand."

"I'd like to be laid flat by her," he mused suggestively.

Ben shook his head, "Normally, I would pay to see you try David, but don't do anything too stupid with only a week before our match," he sighed, concentrating on his food now.

"You _really_ think I can't take her," David sounded sincerely hurt.

"David you're a great beater, your aim is always on the mark, but you're slower than a befuddled muggle. She'd knock your block off and leave you in the infirmary for a least a month, and we don't have that long for you to recover…"

David scowled, "I just love your faith in me…"

"Whatever," Ben said dismissively, he finished eating and headed out, though he wasn't telling his team of course, that was because he wanted to catch Elaine as she left…

When she finally came out of the hall he pick up pace and came up beside her, "I loved what you did to the Gryffindor Keeper your last game."

She froze, but turned around and forced a neutral face. Noticing it was him again she outright frowned. "I guess what you did to their seeker the game before was _almost_ as good."

He smiled, "Now that I have your attention, I wanted to let you know I was serious about offering to help, I can guarantee I have resources you've barely imagined, that will help in your book."

"I don't know how you learned it was an experiment, but I can assure you most of whatever else you've heard is wrong," she hissed.

"Neither of them knew it was potentially deadly, they found the research, or parts of it, when your grandfather found out, he was appalled, but your father-…" Ben grinned, "Oh your father thought he'd found a new solution- a way to become more famous than even Voldermort…"

She glared, she wanted to ask how he knew, but he wouldn't give him that much yet, "What do you want from me," she sneered and turned away to walk off again.

He matched her pace and kept up with her, "Aren't you Ravenclaw all about learning, I know I love to learn, I just hate to be taught, and one of my studies is about the experiment they did."

"Why," she practically snarled and turned on him, "You want to kill muggles too?"

"Please," he scoffed, "I'm half-blood myself, and actually, it wasn't supposed to kill muggles- it was supposed to make them like us…"

Elaine stopped, her jaw grinding with more questions… "How do you know this?"

"My family, the wizard side of course- collects memories, murderers, black practitioners, most of them stolen honestly, but our pensive is one of the most expansive on the planet. Between that and our library, there's almost too much to learn."

"You're a persistent little fucker aren't you?" She growled and moved on again.

"Let me help you, you said you wanted to let the world know the truth, not the nightmare, well it's not the fairy tale you comfort yourself at night with either," he called back to her before stopping breifly in the library before heading for Slytherin's dormitory.

He turned at the dungeons and stopped by a bare and damp stone wall.

"Asmodeus," he said as the password before stepping in.

"What took you so long," David said, coming up beside Ben.

"I needed to get back to the library, dropped my pencil." He wasn't lying; he had gone back because he'd accidently left one of his pencils there before.

"You and your muggle trinkets," he scoffed.

"I like sketching in graphite," he said plainly.

"Yet you never let anyone see your work, you ashamed," Yeisha, the only girl on the Slytherin team came up beside David.

"No I don't, they're my private notes and sketches, if I ever show anyone, it'll be an edited for disclosure version."

"The least awful you mean," Miguel and Klien joined in, two chasers in fifth year like him.

The team Captain and Seeker Largo reached for the notebook under his arm. Ben quickly took it in his own hand and smacked Largo's reaching hand. Largo reached for his wand, but Ben flicked his wrist and his came down from a sheath on his arm and into his hand where he could point it at Largo first. "I'll thank you to leave me be, my curtains will be shut tonight, and I'll have none of you bothering me."

"Oh calm down dear brother," a dreamy voice came from the girls' side of the dorm. Her hair was a pale brown, her eyes blue like his. She seemed to float down the stairs rather than walk. "If you keep antagonizing all the other Slytherins, you'll make life so much harder for Geene and Richie."

"They'll live, frankly I think you're _friendly_ enough for all of us, and since Whitney graduated year before last, you've been insufferable…"

"Hardly, I think I've been very _sufferable_," she practically giggled.

Ben scowled and spun off to his bed, robes flailing out behind him. He sat down in his bed and closed the curtains around him with his wand. He reached down for a small chest under his bed and as he came up, there were shadows by his curtain.

"Ben," two small voices pestered as one, his younger brothers Richie and Geene. His whole family had been in Slytherin, and now his brothers were here to side with Brianna. "Whitney's graduated, Brianna will be graduating this year, that'll leave just us next year, and more importantly that'll leave you as the oldest here, the one people will look at to judge us by… why are you so hostile?"

"Pretenders… They're all false… Especially since Voldermort's-" he watched their shadow's wince- "VOLDERMORT IS DEAD," he emphasized, "Every wizard is still afraid he'll come back again, and nobody wants to risk any open dark magic, both afraid of the still shattered ministry, and of the possible return."

"Ben…"

"Go away, I've got research…"

"_Ben_…"

He flicked his wand and a light flashed, that was him dismissing them. He saw their shadows' slump in the shoulders and slip away. Once they were gone he unlocked the small chest in his lap. Chains dangled upward without any outside influenced. These chains were charmed to be animate. Ben raised his wand and the chains all flared up with spines and spikes and lots of general sharpness.

In the middle of the night Ben stumbled out of bed dragging bloody sheets, he dropped them down a shoot and summoned a house elf to fetch him new sheets…

AN:

I guess short chapters are going to be the norm for this fic… sorry…


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